The fourth studio album by the Mamas and the Papas was The Papas and the Mamas.

The group broke up both before and after this 1968 studio album.

The album was recorded at the home Michelle and John Phillips bought -- a Hollywood mansion that used to belong to Jeneatte McDonald. They build a studio in the house -- without permits because the neighborhood was not zoned for a recording studio.

The Mamas and the Papas were a musical group, the first hippie group to hit the charts. Their first big hit was "California Dreamin'" written by Michelle and John. Also in the group, the incredible Cass Elliot and the to-this-day underrated Denny Doherty.

On the fourth album, Michelle soloed with two thirty or so second bits of Shirley Temple's "The Right Somebody To Love."

Why?

Because everyone was so sick of John.

Once the studio was in the Phillips' home, he was a tyrant forcing the group to re-record vocals over and over.

Cass publicly complained that they spent an entire month recording the vocals on "For The Love of Ivy" for the album.

As the rest of the group rebelled at John's tyrannical moves, that left Michelle who couldn't leave -- it was her house too -- plus she was pregnant and gave birth (to Chynna Phillips, born in February of 1968) during the recording of the album.

So John wanted a pure sound to contrast with the complexity of the new sounds on songs like "Gemini Child," so he recorded Michelle singing the Shirley Temple song with no accompaniment. He then broke it up and opened the first side with it and used it on side two as well. (It's on the CD or the vinyl album in two parts -- only the first one is noted in the track listing. Do not e-mail me, "Elaine, it's only on the album once." The second appearance is there but not listed. Listen to the album.)

It's a new sound for the group.

If they hadn't broken up, it would be interesting to see where it would go next. (They recorded People Like Us in the 70s under threat of lawsuit.)

For me, "Safe In My Garden" is not just the best track on the album, it's also one of the group's five best recordings ever.

I also love "Too Late" (especially the last half of the song, "get on your pony and ride") and, of course, "Dream A Little Dream of Me."

It's really a strong album and with a real label behind them -- Dunhill had now been absorbed by ABC Records -- they would have probably continued the string of hits. As it was, they had four charting singles -- two of which went top 40 -- from the album.

It's interesting how no one bothers to include the inept ABC in the story of the group's final days.

They really didn't know how to break artists or get airplay.

They could handle distribution but nothing else.

The Papas and the Mamas is one of the best albums released in 1968 -- it would make my top five for that year -- and a classic.

Friday, December 5, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, the persecution
of Sunnis continue, the US Senate explores the costs for the VA of
treating hepatitis C, and much more.

"It is estimated that the VA will spend $1.3 billion over the next two
years just on this hepatitis C treatment," Senator Mazie Hirono declared
at Wednesday's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

The issue was hepatitis C in the veterans community. And it was one of
two hearings the Senate committee held this week in the final month of
the Committee. Next January, new senators take office and the Senate
will be under Republican control. Longterm Ranking Member Richard Burr
should transition over to Committee Chair with current Chair Bernie
Sanders transferring to Ranking Member.

Democrats have controlled the Senate since the results of the November 2006 mid-terms.

During that time, Daniel Akaka and Patty Murray have been Committee Chair and now Vermont's Bernie Sanders.

A very wealthy corporation, Giliad, is getting extremely rich off the price of medications. They refused to attend the hearing,

Committee Chair Bernie Sanders: Prior to the developments of the new
drugs from Giliad, the primary method for treating Hepatitis C was
interferon -- an injectible medicine that has many side effects that are
terribly painful for many patients. Additionally, many patients
required additional intervention including liver transplants. These
treatments were expensive. According to research by Dr. John Gaetano of
the University of Chicago who has special expertise in hepatitis, it is
estimated the costs for a person with liver damage over a ten year
period can exceed $270,000 and the average liver transplant in 2011 cost
$577,100. This brings us to the purpose of today's hearing -- the new
treatments for Hepatitis C now on the market and the exorbitant price
tag associated with them. Gilead, the manufacturer of Sovaldi, is
selling the drug at an astounding price of $84,000 for a twelve-week
course of treatment, or about $1,000 per pill. I had invited Gilead to
testify today. I had hoped they could share their perspective on the
cost of their new hepatitis C drugs. Maybe they could have explained to
this Committee why they believe their pricing is fair and reasonable.
But unfortunately they declined our invitation because all of their
executives who could have spoken on this issue are traveling
internationally. Just like any for-profit company, drug companies
charge what they think the market will bear. Gilead clearly made the
calculation that they could charge excessive prices for this
groundbreaking drug and that the federal government would pay. And I
get it -- companies are motivated to make a profit. But Gilead is
making profits in spades. They purchased Pharmasset -- the original
developers of Sovaldi -- for $11 billion and, according to some
estimates, are expected to make more than $200 billion on the sales of
the drug. With numbers like these, we're not talking about a company
looking to make ends meet -- or even fund their next great medical
breakthrough. So we must ask, how much is too much?

The issue of cost was at the heart of the hearing which consisted of two
panels. The first panel was composed of the VA's Chief Consultant on
Pharmacy Benefits Michael Valentino and the Director of HIV, Hepatitis C
and Public Health Pathogens Programs Dr. David Ross. The second panel
was the president of Public Citizen Robert Weissman and the National Coalition on Health Care president John Rother.

Senator Hirono insisted the current spending on hepatitis C was "not
sustainable. It will strain VA resources at a time when veterans are
increasing in number and complexity of conditions."

Her concerns included that hepatitis C was "three times higher" in the
veteran population than in "the general population" and that "many
people infected are unaware that they have it." She also noted that 35
patients at Hawai's VA -- Hirono's home state -- have benefited from the
new treatments.

But the new treatments, from Giliad, are very expensive.

Chair Bernie Sanders: Very interestingly, and maybe we can explore
this in the second panel, Giliad is making this drug available to
countries like Egypt which have a very serious problem with hepatitis C,
my understanding and please correct me if I'm wrong, that they are
selling -- in this country, they are selling the product for $1000 a
pill, in Egypt it is a few dollars a pill. Is that correct? Do you know
anything about that?Dr Michael Valentino: I personally don't. Dr. Ross might.Chair Bernie Sanders: Dr. Ross, are you aware of that?Dr. David Ross: I-I --Chair Bernie Sanders: My understanding is it's ten dollars a pill.Dr. David Ross: I-I couldn't speak to the specifics of that.Chair Bernie Sanders: Okay, we'll get more into that in the second
panel. Why do you think it's the case that they're selling it to a
general American consumer who walks in for a thousand, they're selling
it to a huge federal agency -- the VA, which treats more hepatitis
patients than anyone else in the country -- at $540 but they're selling
it in Egypt for $10? How come they negotiated a better price than you
did?Dr. Michael Valentino: I can't answer that question. I don't know
what Giliad's business model is. I don't know how that was able to --
able to be achieved. Uhm, you know those -- A lot of other countries
have different regulatory processes.Chair Bernie Sanders: They sure do. Which results in the United
States paying the highest prices of all in the world for prescription
drugs. And this may be outside your portfolio in a sense but if the VA
is going to spend -- I mean, we have a deficit and some of my colleagues
don't like spending a whole lot of money on things -- if the VA is
spending billions of dollars -- 1.3 now and maybe more later -- to treat
one illness, is it fair to suggest that that will mean that we have
less money available to take care of veterans needs in other areas? Is
that a fair supposition?Dr. Michael Valentino: Well, we did -- we did ask for more money
and-and-and so, uhm, VA is undergoing a lot of changes right now with,
uh, --Chair Bernie Sanders: All that I'm asking, which I think is pretty
common sense. I mean there's a limit to how much -- I'm a strong
supporter of the VA, would like to put more money into the VA, but
there's a limit to what can be done. All that I'm saying is that if
you're spending billions of dollars in one area, common sense suggests
that we may not be able to spend in others. That may be a fair
supposition?Dr. Michael Valentino: I would not disagree with that.

Nor on the second panel did John Rother.This is not just a matter of a thousand dollars a pill. This is a
matter primarily of a drug that is potentially beneficial to three to
five million people so it's not an orphan drug at all. It's a drug that
would be appropriate for a large number of Americans. And, uh, the
problem is the total cost of treatment, not so much the individual pill
price. Inevitably as you suggest -- as your question earlier suggested,
this kind of costs is going to force trade offs with other necessary
treatment within the VA, within Medicaid, within prisons, within private
health insurance. We are seeing this every day today. And, uh,
it's-it's a deep concern because in many cases the services not
delivered are the very preventative services that have the greatest
return on investment and if we neglect those than we are just making the
problem more difficult down the road.

Let's stay with the first panel to note an exchange covering a few basics on hepatitis C.

Senator Mazie Hirono: I think my series of questions deals with
whether the marketplace really can -- is operating in a way where there
really is more competition for different kinds of treatments that are
effective and much less costly though is there a way to prevent
hepatitis C? Because once one is infected, there is a progression to
the disease. So what are we doing on the prevention side?Dr. David Ross: Briefly, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C.
Transmission for most people occurred decades ago. There are about
20,000 or so new infections a year. The number is actually going up --
almost entirely because of the sharing of needles from injection drug
users. So thinks that we are doing within VA is to -- and this is done
within hepatitis C care -- help people with substance abuse disorders.
We also are doing things -- and again this is integrated with their
medical care to try and reduce exposures that could also damage the
liver -- particularly thinking of alcohol abuse. And an integrated care
approach is much more effective at getting people ready for treatment.
One brief anecdote, I have a patient who I saw yesterday who I started
on methadone maintenance about six months ago and he is now ready for
treatment. In other words he'll be able to reliably take the pills Senator Mazie Hirono: So these prevention methods that you are
utilizing do they -- are they working? I realize it's not that easy to
determine whether something that you're doing is actually preventing --Dr. David Ross: I-I-I think yes. I think the-the-the-the -- It's a
matter of keeping people from getting it in the first place but it's
also a question of getting people ready for treatment. We're -- What
we've done in VA has shown that if you take people who have these
barriers to treatment because of other diseases -- frequently substance
abuse or alcohol abuse -- and you give them integrated psycho-social
care in the same clinic -- this is what has worked at Minneapolis VA and
I should mention this is what was done at the Matsunaga VA in Honolulu
-- they are more likely to complete therapy and be cured than people who
don't have those problems in the first place would be who don't get
that kind of supportive care.

But for most Americans with hepatitis C, the costs for the needed treatment are too high.

It doesn't have to be that way, as Robert Weismann explained:

Now some have held out hope that new treatments will lead to price
competition or that hard bargaining by payers -- of which the VA is the
best -- will be able to yield sufficient price reductions and I think
that's misguided. Based on prior experience, new drugs don't
necessarily come in at a lower price. In fact, they often come in at a
higher price. In general, brand name competitors try not to compete on
price. And when you have a starting point price of $84000 even if we
have substantial reductions in price due to negotiations we're still
going to be stuck with a super high price just because the starting
point was so high. However, we do have solutions available to us and
really fundamental solutions. Now we should say -- I think it's correct,
everything you say, Senator Burr about both the importance of
innovation and looking at government policy. The reason for this price
level -- as both of you asked -- is a single thing which is Giliad has a
monopoly. Giliad doesn't have a market created monopoly, they've got a
government granted monopoly, a patent monopoly, a monopoly that comes
from other exclusivities. If we choose to address that monopoly through
government policy -- since We The People gave the monopoly in the first
place -- we can bring the price down. And we know we can bring it down
to less than 1% -- at least at the manufacturing level -- leaving aside
whatever fair compensation we need to pay to Giliad because of the price
reductions that already exist in developing countries as you
referenced, Senator Sanders. Two methodologies we might pursue to reduce
price. One. we might have just government use of the product --
government use of the patent and other technologies -- in that case we
could source the product to generic competitors and pay Giliad a
royalty. If we pay Giliad a royalty of five thousand dollars per
patient, we'd actually still have cut the price overall by 90%. We've
got existing staturoty atuhority to do that under 28 USC Section 1498.
A different approach might be to look to buy out Giliad's patent all
together. We could do that in one way which would be to say we're just
going to give Giliad as much money as we anticipate the company will
make by virtue of it's patent monopoly. Why would we do that? Well
we'd do that because we're already going to pay them that much money but
we could then provide treatment to everyone whereas under the current
system we're going to pay all that money and have rationing. Now I
wouldn't advocate doing that. I think we can adjust down significantly
what we would pay for a patent buyout but it is another method we might
consider to provide treatment for all.

Many members of Congress have been seeking a debate and vote on the
president's military actions in Iraq and Syria, but a new letter being
sent Friday by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
marks the strongest demand yet from the left that Obama request explicit
authority for the fight.House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has
called repeatedly on Obama to make such a request, but has rebuffed
members of his own caucus, as well as Democrats who think Congress
should take matters into its own hands rather than let the White House
proceed as it wishes.Baldwin and Schatz agree with most members of Congress and the
administration that the Islamic State threatens U.S. interests, but
argue that Obama should stop dithering.

Wow. Tammy Baldwin.

Remember when she was the great 'progressive' hope. Now she's demanding
a vote on the never-ending war's latest phase -- not to stop it -- but
to make it legal.

What a proud moment for her.

And for Matthew Rothschild who promoted her non-stop.

When she was in the House, Baldwin was against the Iraq War, voted against it in 2002.

So she's against war -- when a Republican's in the White House.

I guess it could be worse. She could be only a lesbian when Republicans
were in the White House. At least she sticks with something regardless
of who's in the White House.

While Tammy Baldwin goes coo-coo for war, Theo Sitther (The Hill) explains what could really help Iraq:Instead of continuing to prioritize a military-first approach to
addressing a crisis that is inherently rooted in political and economic
grievances, Congress and the administration should get beyond platitudes
and invest in Iraq’s people by helping to build an inclusive,
non-sectarian government. It is important to take a long view.
The building of open and free democratic states that truly serve the
needs of their citizens is a long-term process. It is a process of
working to understand the cultural, religious, and political contexts
and basing any intervention on that knowledge.But unfortunately,
the President’s FY 2015 request for U.S. civilian programs in Iraq goes
in the opposite direction. It cuts USAID commitments by 69 percent from
2013 levels with a meager $22.5 million
for long-term economic development, support for Iraqi civil society,
and governance programs. While the Senate Appropriations Committee’s
markup of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill
increased this number to $50 million, it remains vastly inadequate compared to the needs on the ground.

Barack repeatedly stated that the only answer for Iraq was a "political
solution." But those were apparently just more empty words, pretty lies
from someone who's offered so many.

The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in '68
And he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday
Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark café
You laugh he said you think you're immune
Go look at your eyes they're full of moon
You like roses and kisses and pretty men to tell you
All those pretty lies pretty lies
When you gonna realize they're only pretty lies
Only pretty lies just pretty lies
-- "The Last Time I Saw Richard," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on Blue

Pretty lies let Shi'ite militias terrorize Sunnis in Iraq all while
everyone pretends a new day has dawned with a new prime minister (Haider
al-Abadi). Matt Bradley and Ghassan Adnan (Wall Street Journal) report:Shiite militia leaders say their recent successes reflect their holy
warrior zeal, superior training compared with Iraqi government troops,
less corruption in the ranks and freedom from the legal, bureaucratic
and human-rights restrictions on regular Iraqi forces. But some Sunni
politicians, tribal leaders and human-rights advocates are worried that
the take-no-prisoners tactics of many militia groups are turning them
into a mirror image of the Sunni jihadists fighting on behalf of Islamic
State.Militia groups have been accused of a plethora of
human-rights violations, including mass shootings of prisoners and Sunni
civilians and the forced displacement of Sunni families on a scale
approaching ethnic cleansing.

Shiite fighters boast about
executing enemy soldiers after they surrender. In Jurf al-Sakher, some
Al Qara’a members hurried out of a meeting with a reporter for The Wall
Street Journal to deliver the severed head of an Islamic State fighter
to relatives of a slain militia member before his funeral ended.

Sunday, December 22nd, Nouri yet again called peaceful protesters 'terrorists' and announced he would stop the protests.

He wanted to attack last Tuesday
but a last minute flurry of meetings by various officials and political
blocs caused Nouri to withdraw the forces he had encircling the Ramadi
protest square. Then came Friday. From that day's snapshot:

Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports Nouri
al-Maliki again threatened the protesters today. He declared this will
be their last Friday protest and that he will burn the tents in the
protest squares down. He declared that the protesters were guilty of
sedition. Sedition? Nouri as William Bligh? I can see it. Kitabat notes
that he made these remarks in a televised interview. Kitabat also
notes Nouri's been insisting 30 terrorist leaders are hiding in protest
tents.

They were protesting the Saturday dawn raid that Nouri's forces carried
out on an MP. MP Ahmed al-Alwani was illegally arrested. But there's
more. Alsumaria reported that his home was stormed by Nouri's SWAT forces at dawn and that 5
people (bodyguards and family) were killed (this included his brother)
while ten family members (including children) were left injured.

By now, we all know the drill.

What is al-Alwani?

Yes, he's Sunni.

And he's also, we all know this, a member of Iraqiya.

If you're targeted by Nouri, then you are both things.

Or, as conservative Max Boot (Commentary) put it today, "If it’s the end of December or the beginning of January, it must be time
for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to arrest another prominent Sunni
politician."

The people of Anbar did not respond well to Nouri breaking the law and arresting an MP.

Today, All Iraq News reports
it's been decided to put former MP Ahmed al-Alwani to death. He was
arrested December 29, 2013 the outlet notes. His brother was killed in
the arrest ordered by thug Nouri al-Maliki, an arrest that was actually a
raid in the early, pre-dawn hours of the morning.This will have huge implications.For example, the tribe he belongs to is one of the key tribes in the
fight against the Islamic State. Equally true, his arrest (and the
murder of his brother) outraged the Sunni community.This is the wrong time to be executing a Sunni politician -- with the
new prime minister Haider al-Abaidi having done nothing of significance
to improve Sunni relations or to include them in the government.

The fact that some Sunni Muslim tribes had joined with the
mostly Shiite Muslim Iraqi army seemed to be good news for the country.
It’s well acknowledged that in order for Iraq to resolve the current
security crisis, sectarian and ethnic rifts must be healed and in areas
held by the IS group, which are home to a mainly Sunni Muslim
population, it is the locals – Sunni Muslims - who must push the
extremists out.

But almost immediately there was bad news from Baghdad
that seemed to negate the good. It also the dispirited Sunni Muslim
tribal leaders who had been fighting the IS group. The news: the Iraqi
judiciary had issued a death sentence against a prominent Sunni Muslim
MP, Ahmed al-Alwani.

As the BBC
reported at the time of his arrest in December 2013, al-Alwani had
backed Sunni Muslim protests against the government led by former Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Alwani was arrested on charges of
terrorism and his capture in Ramadi, after a deadly gunfight, was part
of the reason that protests in the area became more heated and violent.

“This verdict
is like a knife in our backs from the Iraqi government,” one of the
leaders of the al-Bu Ulwan tribe, Hazem al-Alwani, told NIQASH. “The
sons of my tribe have been fighting against the IS group for days,
helping the Iraqi security forces to prevent Ramadi from falling.”

The case against al-Alwani has been widely criticised. Amnesty International
released a statement declaring that the trial had had many
irregularities, with al-Alwani denied access to his lawyer and his
family, among other things.

The verdict had been postponed previously and now, Hazem
al-Alwani thought, the timing of the announcement of a death penalty was
strange. “I don’t believe it is a coincidence,” he said. “It seems that
there are certain political actors that do not want the Sunni Muslim
tribes in Anbar to play any role in the fight against the IS group.”

Haider al-Abadi has still done nothing to demonstrate to Sunnis that
there's a 'new' Iraq or that they'll be included and welcomed. He did
promise, September 13, 2014, that the bombing of Falluja's residential
neighborhoods would stop.

Those bombings never stopped.

Those bombings continue and continue to wound and kill Sunni civilians.

“Aside from setting broad priorities, there’s no plan, no indication
of progress, no measures of effectiveness,” says Anthony Cordesman, a
former State Department and Pentagon official who regularly advises
leaders in both departments. The Obama administration tends to take too
long to adopt serious military advice, he says.“Events and
reality certainly have to shape strategy,” says Cordesman, now with the
Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But if you don’t have a
strategy and clear plans, you lack the ability to shape events.”

Washington D.C. (December 5, 2014)– Today, President Obama
announced Ashton Carter as his nominee for Secretary of the Department
of Defense (DoD). Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the
largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing post-9/11
veterans and families, welcomed the nomination. Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA CEO
and Founder, was at the White House today for the announcement at the
invitation of the President.“IAVA congratulates Ashton Carter on his nomination as Defense
Secretary,” said Rieckhoff. “Carter has proven to be an advocate for
both active-duty servicemembers and veterans. With his breadth of
experience at the Pentagon, we trust that Carter is prepared to meet the
unique demands of today’s national security challenges.“Carter returns to the Pentagon at a critical time. As conflict
continues in the Middle East and more troops are sent into combat, our
country must remember to care for the veterans we are still welcoming
home. IAVA looks forward to our continued partnership with the Pentagon
on critical issues such as combating suicide and improving access to
quality mental health care. We hope Carter will continue to engage the
veteran community with the same drive and passion as Secretary Chuck
Hagel.”

Since the beginning of 2014 IAVA has been calling on DoD, Congress,
the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the
veteran suicide crisis. IAVA veteran members delivered a petition to
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday calling on him to bring
the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill to the Senate floor before
Congress adjourns next week. The bill, named after Iraq and Afghanistan
war veteran Clay Hunt, a Marine who died by suicide in 2011, will help
combat veteran suicide and improve access to quality mental health care.
Hunt’s mother, Susan Selke, recently met with DoD officials to press
for veteran mental health care reforms and to garner their support of
the Clay Hunt bill.

IAVA’s
Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff (right) and Political Director

Bill
Rausch (left) visit the White House for the President’s announcement of

new Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the nation's first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
representing veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and has nearly 300,000
Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Celebrating its 10th
year anniversary, IAVA recently received the highest rating -
four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity
evaluator.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, John Kerry
lets down the administration, Barack won't pay compensation for civilian
deaths, and much more.

Today, CENTCOM announced, "In
Iraq, four airstrikes near Mosul destroyed five ISIL bunkers, two
ISIL-occupied buildings, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL fighting position and
two heavy weapons. In addition, those airstrikes also struck a large
ISIL unit and a tactical ISIL unit. Near Ramadi, two airstrikes
destroyed four ISIL vehicles. Near Tal Afar, an airstrike destroyed an
excavator and struck a tactical ISIL unit."

The US-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State has killed many
and, though the US government would like to pretend otherwise, that
includes many civilians. Chris Woods (Foreign Policy) reports: The United
States is not planning to grant compensation for civilians killed in airstrikes
in Iraq and Syria, Foreign Policy has learned, despite claims by credible
groups that at least 100 noncombatants may already have died in the 16 weeks of
U.S.-led bombings.
The decision, confirmed
by a senior spokesman for U.S. Central Command (Centcom), the military command
organization in charge of the air war, marks a significant departure from recent
conflicts, in which payments have regularly
been made to civilians negatively impacted by U.S. military actions.

What a proud moment for Barack Obama. Even Bully Boy Bush's
administration compensated some for Iraqi civilians killed by US
military actions.

Let's stay with the US government for a bit. At the State Dept press briefing today,
spokesperson Marie Harf noted, "The Secretary [of State John Kerry] is
on travel in Europe today. This morning in Brussels he
participated in the Counter-ISIL Coalition Meeting at NATO, had meetings
with EU High Representative Mogherini and Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi,
participated in a meeting on Libya with European foreign ministers and
the EU, a meeting on the U.S.-EU Energy Ministerial, and he held a press
availability which I’m sure many of you saw. Tonight he arrives in
Basel, Switzerland for meetings at the OSCE, the first of which will be
with Swiss Foreign Minister Burkhalter."

Secretary John Kerry: [T]oday was an opportunity for representatives from about 60 members
of the anti-ISIL coalition to come together, share their views, receive
updates on coalition efforts, make suggestions about the roadmap ahead,
and discuss as carefully as possible the pluses and minuses of the
strategy engaged and what needs to be done to accomplish our goals going
forward.It was absolutely clear in the comments of everybody, particularly
the prime minister of Iraq and his team, that we have made already
significant progress in two and a half months. But we also acknowledge
there is a lot more work yet to be done. Daesh is still perpetrating
terrible crimes, but there was a consensus that the momentum which it
had exhibited two and a half months ago has been halted, that it has
been forced to modify its tactics – and some of those modifications
severely hampering their ability to operate in the way that they were,
certainly – that their hold on territory has been challenged already,
and their finances have been strained, and in almost every media market
that exists, and certainly within the region, their message is being
denounced. Their message of hate is being challenged in public meeting
places, in mosques across the globe. This clearly represents a
multifaceted effort, which is precisely what we defined in the earliest
days of suggesting that we would build a coalition and the coalition
would take on Daesh.Now, while airstrikes may capture the headlines – and there have been
more than 1,000 of them thus far – this is far more than simply a
military coalition. And it will not be successful, we all agree, if it
were to rely on military alone, which it does not. Destroying Daesh is
going to require defeating the ideology – the funding, the recruitment,
and the devastation that they’ve been able to inflict on people in the
region. And these are the areas that were really the primary focus of
today’s discussion.During this morning’s meeting, we reviewed the progress in each of
our five lines of effort and came together in issuing a joint statement,
all countries signing on, that underscores our unity and our firm
support for our partners and our absolute determination to succeed.
Participants noted the gains that we have made across all of the lines
of effort – defeating ISIL on the battlefield, restricting its finances,
enacting laws to restrict the flow of foreign fighters, and countering
its toxic ideology.The long-term success of the effort in Iraq is key to the success of
the coalition. And today we heard directly from Iraqi Prime Minister
Abadi, whose government yesterday revealed and reached a long-sought
agreement, a landmark oil deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The prime minister also provided an update on the fight against Daesh in
Iraq and on his broader reform agenda, including an executive order
that he just issued to begin important changes in the criminal justice
system of Iraq. Nothing will do more to defeat Daesh than an Iraq that
is united and has more representative and effective security forces.Now, obviously there’s a lot more work ahead. But the prime minister
has taken steps to unite the country, including outreach to Sunni
tribes. He has taken steps to root out corruption and to reform the
Iraqi Security Forces and to take on the threat that Daesh represents. I
think it’s fair to say that all of the foreign ministers, ambassadors,
representatives who were there today came away impressed by Prime
Minister Abadi and by what he has accomplished today, which is the down
payment on the roadmap that he laid out for the future.

I like John Kerry -- supported his presidential run in 2004 -- but sometimes he's just too pathetic for words.

Should of been his crowning moment of the year today. It's been a bad
year for John. Not like when he was in California and shot off his
mouth thereby destroying any hopes of a 2008 run for president. That
was weeks of bad. Weeks of embarrassment. 2014 has just been him
forgetting he's Secretary of State and not of Defense.

He's gone crazy trying to play administration tough guy.

Today, he finally did something that was actually a job for the Secretary of State.

Despite the press traveling with him, the foreign ministries meet-up today received very little attention from the press.

And that's his fault.

When he had the microphone today addressing the press, he couldn't stay on topic.

I don't give a damn what he thinks about Libya or China. We didn't include it.

I used to think, "Some day John will find the self-confidence to stop
trying to show off and just focus on the task at hand." The closer he
gets to death, the less likely he'll ever arrive at a moment of
self-confidence or self-awareness.

He has the world's attention for one brief moment and can speak for the
administration and finally note something on the diplomatic front with
regards to Iraq but that's for people who want to do their job.

It's not good enough for a John Kerry who wants to overwhelm you.

He killed his own moment.

That's on him.

He let down the administration because he couldn't stop strutting.

His task today was simple, to stay on topic (Iraq) and assure the world
that the US had a diplomatic plan -- something in the works that would
help bring Iraq to the "political solution" that Barack Obama has
repeatedly said was the only answer for Iraq.

That was what was needed from the Secretary of State.

Kerry couldn't pull it off because he couldn't stay focused.

His failure to sell it made those covering it -- the few -- even less
likely to pretend a 'plan' exists. The editorial board of the Daily Star, for example, offered:

The coalition has bombed the jihadis in Iraq since August and in Syria
since September, yet the militant group – which most of the world had
not even heard of a year ago – still holds swaths of land in both
countries, maintains large financial reserves and continues to terrorize
vast civilian populations.Meeting Wednesday, the allied foreign ministers admitted that the
battle against the group would likely take years, and, conceding they
were in it for the long haul, agreed to continue holding such
conferences every six months.

Under an agreement issued by the coalition
Wednesday, foreign ministers representing coalition nations will meet at
least every six months in what all agree will be a years-long campaign
against the Islamic State. In addition to supporting the Iraqi
government and urging access to humanitarian aid in Syria, it also
called for greater help to countries in the region that have been
saddled with millions of refugees from the battle zone.

As he headed into the meeting Wednesday, Danish
Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said the global coalition has made
significant headway against the Islamic State, including stemming its
financial support. Most importantly, he said, the militants’ deadly
march across the region has been halted.

The following countries took part in the meet-up:

Republic of Albania

Hungary

Sultanate of Oman

Australia

Republic of Iceland

Republic of Poland

Republic of Austria

Republic of Iraq

Portuguese Republic

Kingdom of Bahrain

Ireland

State of Qatar

Belgium

Italian Republic

Republic of Korea

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Japan

Romania

Republic of Bulgaria

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Canada

Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Serbia

Republic of Croatia

State of Kuwait

Republic of Singapore

Republic of Cyprus

Republic of Latvia

Slovak Republic

Czech Republic

Republic of Lebanon

Republic of Slovenia

Denmark

Republic of Lithuania

Federal Government of Somalia

Arab Republic of Egypt

Luxembourg

Spain

Republic of Estonia

Macedonia*

Sweden

European Union

Moldova

Taiwan

Republic of Finland

Montenegro

Republic of Turkey

French Republic

Morocco

United Arab Emirates

Georgia

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Ukraine

Federal Republic of Germany

New Zealand

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Hellenic Republic

Norway

United States of America

* Greece does not recognize The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
under a name other than its provisional as stated in UNSCR 817(1993).
At Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's website, the prime minister's speech was posted in full:

Ladies and Gentlemen thank you very much

Thank
you, Secretary Kerry, for convening this meeting to discuss how the
international community can respond to the threat posed by the so-called
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Because it is not Islamic, not a
state, and not worthy of a formal name, I will call it simply by its
Arabic acronym – DAESH.

I
thank you all for attending this meeting and for everything that your
countries are doing to support Iraq and its people. And I thank NATO for
hosting this event here at your headquarters.

As
the attendance at this meeting underscores – some 60 foreign ministers
from countries around the globe – the world has woken up to the fact
that DAESH threatens not only the nations and peoples of the Middle East
and North Africa but everyone, everywhere who refuses to accept its
extremist views and barbaric practices.

On behalf of the people of Iraq who have
suffered so much for so long, I can tell you that DAESH perpetrates
indiscriminate inhumanity. DAESH’s beheadings,
mass executions, and enslavement of women and children have been
directed against people from every ethnic background and religious
confession, regardless of national borders.

For those of you who represent nations in North America and Western Europe, it is well-known that DAESH
recruits and trains, among others, battle-hardened western fighters. It
is only a matter of time before these highly-trained terrorists will be
sent back to the societies from which they came to commit murder and
mayhem.

As you are demonstrating by your presence today,
defeating DAESH is our common cause. It requires our collective
efforts, regionally and globally. I am here today to reaffirm to you
that the government and the people of Iraq are committed to doing our
part.

We are grateful for the support of the United
States and every other member of the coalition. But we know that, on the
ground, this is first and foremost our fight. And we understand that,
in Iraq, while military action is necessary to defeat DAESH, we also
need governmental reform, national reconciliation, and economic and
social reconstruction.

Our newly-elected government is undertaking all
these tasks – all at once. And our efforts are already beginning to show
results.

Following free and fair national elections last
April, and with the support of every ethnic, regional, and religious
group, I have formed a new government that includes representatives of
all Iraqi political and social blocs.

Our
government is successfully meeting its pledges for the first three
months, and we are also making progress on the programs that we proposed
for the first six monthsto fulfill all our commitments to the Iraqi
people.

Ahead of the pace from previous years, the
Council of Ministers has reviewed the budget and should forward it to
parliament for approval very soon.

We are working for national reconciliation on
several fronts. We are forging cooperative relationships with the tribes
of Salahudeen, Al-Anbar and Ninawa that are based in areas under the
control of DAESH. These tribes are being armed and are currently
fighting alongside Iraqi security forces.

We
are also working on amending the Accountability and Justice Law, which
provides for de-baathification, to ease the reintegration of a large
number of former government employees who have not committed crimes
against the Iraqi people. Our goal is to address the concerns of every
segment of society.

This week I have signed a decree requiring our security forces
and the Ministry of Justice to safegaurd the constitutional and human
rights of detainees inIraqi jails. This includesthe establishment of a
central record of all detainees and the legal reason for their arrest
including a timescale for their detention and presentation to the
courts.

We have reached an interim agreement with the
Kurdistan Regional Government that will pave the way for a long-lasting
agreement on Iraq’s natural resources. This is an important first step
in the right direction, and both we and our Iraqi Kurdish brothers are
committed to doing more to put the disagreements of the past behind us.

We
have begun to rebuild our security forces in a professional manner,
having removed about two dozen generals as part of our efforts to root
out corruption and re-energize the military leadership. In order to
involve more Iraqis in our common defense, we have made progress on the
establishment of a National Guard force. And we
are working with the United Nations in order to benefit from the
experiences of other countries that utilize similar structures so we can
ensure the right solution for Iraq.

In
order to guarantee respect for the rule of law, we are working to
ensure that all armed groups are brought under state control. Where
possible, some individuals from these groups willbe integrated into the
Iraqi Security Forces or the National Guard. We affirm our
constitutional commitment not to allow
any armed group or militia to work outside or in parallelto the Iraqi
Security Forces. No arms would be permitted outside the control of the
Iraqi Govenment.

As
DAESH threatens us all, we see the government of the Kurdistan Region
as an essential partner in our struggle, and fully support efforts to
train and equip the Kurdish forces to ensure that they can work
seamlessly with the Iraqi Security Forces. We will continue to ensure
that there are no delays or hold ups in this process and there has never
been intentional or procedural delays on our part in this matter.

In
addition, we are working with the United States and our international
partners to train and equip tribal fighters, while incorporating the
Popular Mobilization Units into the Iraqi Security Forces.

Now
let me be clear: Our security forces are in need of comprehensive
training and armament. We will need significant support from our friends
and partners in these endeavors, and you may rest assured that your
assistance will be put to good use, becausewhen we fight back against
DAESH, we are fighting not only for the people of Iraq but for all the
peoples of the world.

With
support from the Coalition and with closer coordination with the
Kurdish Peshmerga and every segment of our society, the Iraqi Security
Forces and their partners are pushing forward. Together, we have
recaptured strategic roads and other locations and liberated entire
towns.

We
have made this solemn promise to all our people: We will move ahead in
our fight to free every inch of our territory and every segment of our
citizenry. We will expel the DAESH gangs from our precious land. And we
will bring life back to the liberated cities.

On
the diplomatic front, we are strengthening our relations with all our
neighbors, so that, together, we can more effectively combat our common
enemy – DAESH.

In
recent weeks, we have established very warm and functioning high level
contacts with all our neighbors:Prime Minister and Emir of Kuwait,
President Rouhani of Iran, King Abdullah and the Prime Minister of
Jordan in Amman, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Prime Minister
of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu and the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Baghdad.

We
reachedagreements on strengthening our security and intelligence
cooperation to defeat DAESH, as well as deepening our relations in
economics, oil, investment, trade, and border control.

Working with these countries and other
neighbors, we are developing a common defense against DAESH and a new
strategy to address the regional problems that give rise to
transnational terrorism.

From reforming our government to reconciling our
society, resisting DAESH, and restoring our relationships with our
neighbors, Iraq is making every effort to protect its democratic gains.

But the challenges that we face are greater than
any nation can address alone. We are combating one of the best-funded,
best-organized, and best-equipped transnational terrorist organizations
on the face of the Earth. So my message to all of you is: We are doing
our part – and we need your help.

On the military front, we need air support,
training, armament and capacity-building for Iraq’s security forces. We
also need our neighbors and allies to support our struggle to stop the
flow of foreign fighters into Iraq. For your sake as well as ours, Iraq
must not become the training-ground for terrorists who come from, and
will return to, every trouble-spot on Earth.

DAESH receives not only its fighters but also
its funding from all across the world. We need the international
community, including its financial institutions, to freeze the funding
of DAESH and call a halt to the free movement of money and munitions to
these transnational terrorists.

Violent extremism is inspired by vicious
ideologies. We need our neighbors in the Middle East and North Africa to
counter the ideological underpinnings of DAESH.

And we need the world community to help us
address the humanitarian crisis that DAESH has caused, so that the
refugees from terrorism do not themselves become recruits for yet
another round of violent extremism.

The
terrorism of DAESH and the civil war in Syria have displaced nearly two
million people who are now within our borders. We are in need of
humanitarian aid to meet their needs, particularly with winter
approaching.

Meanwhile,
the areas that we have liberated and those that we will liberate from
DAESH need to be rebuilt quickly. In order to encourage the residents to
return to their homes, to create jobs, and to tackle some of the causes
of the rise of DAESH, we need to establish a reconstruction fund.

Unfortunately,
Iraq is in short supply of funds because our oil revenues have
declined, due to the fall in oil prices and the end of exports from the
North since DAESH took over Mosul. We have dedicated sizeable funds from
our budget to these refugees and The United Nations has also carried
some of the burden of the humanitarian work. But we need the entire
international community’s help to house and heal the wounds of the
victims of this violence.

Only
by rebuilding a secure and stable Iraq in a secure and stable Middle
East can we defeat the transnational terrorists who draw upon discontent
and feed on failure. Just as DAESH is our common enemy, defeating DAESH
must be our common endeavor.

In
this great struggle, the government and people of Iraq are doing
everything that we can. And, from your presence and participation here
today, I am encouraged that you will, too.

Today, we will exchange ideas. Tomorrow and for as long as it takes, we must translate our words into actions.

The decisions included a call for an
international commitment to support Iraq and the efforts of the new
Iraqi government.

Participants noted with great alarm the systematic and widespread
human rights abuses committed by ISIL/Daesh including, inter alia,
crimes against religious and ethnic minority groups and other vulnerable
populations. In this regard, participants noted ISIL/Daesh’s systematic
use of sexual and gender-based violence in its campaign of terror, and
encouraged international efforts addressing these crimes.
I'm sorry, I can't understand the US government when it talks out of its own ass.

What are they saying, human rights abuses? Gender-based violence? Campaign of terror?

AP was gloating today:But if she is indeed al-Baghdadi's wife, she could serve as a bargaining
chip with Syria-based militants holding some 20 Lebanese security
forces captured in a cross-border raid in August. Beirut has been under
intense pressure from the families of the captured men to negotiate
their release.

Not everyone was convinced she would provide a treasure trove of insight into ISIS, though.

Expressing skepticism, a
former senior U.S. military official told The New York Times that in
the Iraq war, the Americans captured a wife of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the
leader or al Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS' forerunner.

"We got little out of her, and when we sent her back, Zarqawi killed her," the unidentified official told the newspaper.

And since al-Dulaimi was
reportedly seized more than a week ago, what intelligence she carried
may already have passed its sell-by date.

It's a disgrace as is the silence around it.

As the silence continues grasp that it's easy today to decry what was
done to, for example, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. It's always easy to
decry something 10, 20, 30 years in the past or more.

But to speak out when an outrage and an injustice is ongoing?

Too many are scared.

She's married to a terrorist!

I don't care if she is or not.

Show what's she has done or let her go.

That's how the rule of law works.

And real governments do not hold people as "chips" to trade.

Not only have they failed to prove who she is, they've failed to follow the rule of law.

And how dare they take DNA tests on her children or anyone's children without permission from the parent.

WHAT: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
of America (IAVA), the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
representing post-9/11 veterans and their families, will hold a day of
action on Capitol Hill, calling for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
to immediately bring the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill to the Senate
floor. IAVA veteran members will deliver a petition of more than 57,000
signatures urging Congress to help reverse the trend of 22 veterans
dying by suicide every day.

Media is encouraged to attend the press event, which will begin at
noon at the Upper Senate Park Fountain before delivering the petition to
Senator Reid’s office in the Hart Senate Office Building.

Since early 2014, IAVA has led the fight for lawmakers to address
veteran suicide and improve access to mental health care. According to
IAVA’s 2014 Member Survey, 47
percent of respondents know at least one Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who
has attempted suicide, while 40 percent of respondents know someone who
has died by suicide, up three points from 2013.

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the
nation's first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
representing veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and has nearly 300,000
Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Celebrating its 10th
year anniversary, IAVA recently received the highest rating -
four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity
evaluator.